Weavers from Assam at Winter Mela in Delhi. Image: Northeast Now
Weavers from Assam at Winter Mela in Delhi. Image: Northeast Now

The NHPC has been implementing Livelihood Intervention Projects (LIP) in Lakhimpur and Dhemaji under Downstream Developmental Works.

The implementation is being carried out in consultation with the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat.

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Livelihood intervention in piggery, sericulture and handloom has been taken up in these districts by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) as per the approval of Core Group of Assam (CGA).

CGA is a high-level committee constituted by the Assam government to oversee implementation of downstream works.

The project envisages the creation of farmer producers company in each sector on AMUL pattern wherein farmers and weavers are the owners.

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In order to strengthen women empowerment in rural India, only women farmers and weavers have been included as a beneficiary.

NHPC, in consultation with IRMA and through network partners, is also aiming to establish sustainable market linkages.

In the case of handloom, NHPC, through network partner, has engaged qualified designers who are helping weavers to weave rich traditions of the northeast with contemporary designs blended with natural colours so as to create unique fabric.

In order to motivate the weavers and promote the products under SAAR Handloom, Dhemaji, weavers of Lakhimpur and Dhemaji are participating in Winter Mela organized by Dastkar in Delhi.

Dastkar is a private not-for-profit NGO established in 1981, working to support traditional Indian craftspeople, many of them women and village-based, with the objective of helping craftspeople regain their place in the economic mainstream.

NHPC’s LIP initiatives are bolstering the confidence of the weavers and also helping them to establish a brand of their own.

NHPC has also undertaken river bank protection and erosion control measures in the downstream areas of Subansiri.

 

Farhana Ahmed is Northeast Now Correspondent in North Lakhimpur. She can be reached at: [email protected]